Which Mini Midi Keyboard can I choose for Renoise with Linux?

Help, Support & Bugs Beginners Questions - Renoise
1

Hey there,

I am a beginner with Renoise and want to choose a new little Mini Midi Keyboard. Which Keyboard Models have advanced Support with Linux and Renoise?

These Models I choosed but dont know if they Work with Renoise and Linux. My Budget is about 100 Euro for a 25 keys keyboard. And I want to choose 25 Keys because of problems with space.

  • Arturia MiniLab 3
  • M-Audio Oxygen 25
  • Novation Launchkey Mini 25 MK4

Or are other Keyboards better? And why? Have you got Experience with Linux and Renoise?

Greets

2

I mean, a good mechanical Qwerty keyboard is almost more essential for Renoise IMO. If you’re already sorted for that, I would avoid Arturia as they use windows/mac software for midi controllers (my KeyStep did anyway). As long as you get a good keyboard with class compliant USB MIDI you should be fine.

I found this list of class compliant USB MIDI keyboards:

Although I am positive the list isn’t exhaustive.

3

I had an Arturia MiniLab and it was not Linux compatible.

4

I assume you mean the MiniLab has some special features that aren’t compatible?

For basic usage (keys/pads/knobs), any class-compliant USB MIDI keyboard should work. These are standards for a reason. @BriocheBaps’s list is actually keyboards with a class-compliant audio interface, which is a much smaller category. I would bet that pretty much any keyboard is class-compliant for USB MIDI.

The real question is whether each keyboard has any DAW-specific functionality that you’re missing out on by using Renoise, and whether you care about it. It’s theoretically possible to support such things via third-party scripting but I wouldn’t count on it.

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5

Good catch, that will teach me not to just scan read when sharing links lol.

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6

An Akai MPK Mini could work. Used to own a MK2 and it does work on Linux. MK3 should work too since it’s class compliant.

7

Thx for your issues.
Its not so easy to find a Keyboard DAW Controller. Especially for the special Keys. But I like Renoise and try my best to find one.

CU

8

Curious what you mean by “special keys”. We might be able to give better recs if we knew what you’re trying to do.

9

i have an arturia minilab and it most certainly is linux compatible.

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Mine was most certainly not, and a google search shows others reporting problems. Sure, it looks like there may be workarounds and alternative software to get it working, but I guess I wouldn’t call that compatible. It was more trouble than it was worth. Caveat emptor?

11

my mk2 was plug and play here, Ive never installed any special software for it. bog standard midi controller, works flawlessly with both bitwig and renoise :man_shrugging:

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I’m using a Minilab on linux with zero issues. No workarounds, no faffing about. It just does its job.

Specifically what issues did you have?

13

Well, for starters, the Arturia MIDI Control Center software isn’t Linux compatible, so that right there was a big problem. I had full control of keys plus mod and pitch, but I had problems with erratic knob values, switching channels, etc because I couldn’t configure the thing properly. CC values/parameters could not be modified.

I realize that there are various workarounds that may work partially or completely, but OP stated he is a beginner and asked for a keyboard with ‘advanced Linux support’. This is most certainly not that, and I didn’t want him to get confused with more complicated answers, as I was in a similar position when I bought the thing six years ago. Cheers guys!

14

The Akai MPK mini Play mk3 runs perfect with renoise in Linux :slight_smile: